Apothecary
by psychedelic aya
Summary: 03: Because there's a warmth somewhere and you have no idea where it came from. – sasuke/sakura, a drabble collection.
1. 01: Infitiatio

**summary **There's a warmth, but the shuriken remains painfully cold.

**theme **_Bull's Eye_  
**  
**/

**infitiatio**

/

The shuriken was stiff and cold-like touching newly glazed ice upon the tips of your fingers; nerves wracking and telling your brain to pull away, just pull away (its way too dangerous and you might get hurt)—yet your hands are too entranced to the frost calling, the coldness beckoning, the darkness overwhelming…

"Sasuke-kun."

Her voice cuts off your trance, and you manage to acknowledge her presence.

"Hn. Sakura."

And she is there, her face framed by the falling leaves, pink hair flowing with the motions of the soft zephyr. Her lips are cherry red, and her eyes have the softest glow of emeralds-both are glistening against the enlightenment of the sun, reflecting something even more bright and cheery than day. And somehow you notice and know that this certain smile (the smile she's smiling now-isn't it pretty?) in her face is yours, and yours alone—

You find yourself staring.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Still, you manage to compose yourself before she notices that the object of your gaze is her.

"…Yeah?"

She doesn't speak; but instead, she smiles that smile again and you can't help but look away. There's a giggle in her eyes that's entrancing and you don't want to get caught in a sticky web where you can't get yourself out of-

(Because you're afraid that walls have ears and certain people might find out the deepest spot of your weakness—)

…There's too much that has been taken away and you're not letting that happen again.

Your heart wrenches and you frown to hide emotion. Still, her smile stays and it doesn't waver.

(But you're already walking away—why is she like that?)

You grip the shuriken in your hands; its coldness is suddenly dull.

There's a warmth somewhere and you have no idea where it came from.

/

_FINI __- __110105_


	2. 23: Akogare

**summary** Sakura can't handle the longing any longer.

**theme **_Weak heart_

/

**akogare**

/

Sometimes, at night—(when she knew no one else was awake)—Sakura felt like screaming.

There would be this pain in her stomach—cold, raw, relentless pain—churning her insides with such an extreme intensity—_it's the longing, dear_—eating away her guts until she knew probably nothing would be left by morning—

(_What longing?_)

"Sakura."

(_That longing._)

And she knew she was just hallucinating—that his voice was merely a figment of her already desperate (too desperate) imagination. But sometimes it felt so real—like he was actually there—alive and very much breathing—

(Inner Sakura swears she can feel his breath on her ears; his arms around her waist; his chest pressed upon her back—)

But it was such an impossibility that she knew and had to accept the fact that he'd never, ever be there…

"Sakura." …At night, when no one else was awake, when she felt like screaming.

(Sometimes even, when the throbbing of her heart in her stomach grew stronger, she'd sometimes feel his lips pass across her forehead—)

"Sakura."

(—and the pain would be momentarily replaced by butterflies—_almost like that feeling when you're in love?_—; but it would only be _momentarily_, because the pain of having the pounding heart fall down to your guts overwhelms everything else—)

Inner Sakura blamed it on the longing.

(Because even his voice had a _smile_ in it—_yes he's smiling_—but it was so impossible that sometimes Sakura knew what kind of projections her inner self was putting her through—_and of course you're only hallucinating!_—)

"Sakura."

And she'd like to think, that when he was calling her name, Uchiha Sasuke's voice never sounded so deeper and so full of meaning.

(And it's kind of funny because she wasn't even dreaming _yet_—)

"Sakura."

(…Or maybe she subconsciously was?)

The night was dead.

(_You come home when you're bruised, bloody and dying?_)

And the first thing Uchiha Sasuke said when he entered the gates of Konoha—

(And the witnesses say he was uncharacteristically—_what?_—half-smiling—)

—was Haruno Sakura's name.

/

_FINI_ - _122705_


	3. 03: Cloudless

**summary** And she knew that it would be different this time around. After all, the clouds said so.

**theme**_ No promises_

/

**cloudless**

_/_

"I…"

And the night was dark that time, she told herself.

"You don't need to worry, Sakura."

She didn't think it was quite the same now, though. After all, the moon was very full (but wasn't it also way back when?) and the stars were bright (wait, same like last time?) and the sky was as clear as the sea.

(Still… _it's different this time around._)

"I know that."

And she could feel it vibrating within her. (_There is no eclipse now, is there?_) The night was young and bright; the atmosphere was a breeze that passed by her neck so softly she almost cooed at the pleasurable tingles it gave.

(_It's almost like your touch—_)

The sky was cloudless, too.

And from this she immediately knew that the upcoming dusk would do her no harm.

(Because the clouds covered the moon and the stars—they covered the light—)

_Don't start, please. He needs the light to be safe._

"I'm going to come home," He said, slowly and carefully, as if not wanting to make a promise but doing so anyway. (_Promises are meant to be broken but obligations are to be kept—_) And matter how careful he was in his words; no matter how much he tried to mask whatever was the underneath of the underneath—

She could see it. She could read it. She could feel it.

"I know, Sasuke-kun."

_You'll come home to me._

He smirked, softly, before taking her hand in his and suddenly pulling her close. "Sakura—" And his grip was tight, almost as if she was an anchor to something, anything,_everything_— "Promise me you'll be here."

_He needs the light to come home._

She shook her head, "I'm not a promise, Sasuke-kun." And she was smiling against his chest, and her hair tickled his chin when she moved her head—

"But I love you."

(_I always have—_)

"And that's all the reason I need."

(And somehow she knew the sky would remain cloudless as it was obliged.)

/

Moments later, Haruno Sakura was left on a bench by the gate of Konoha.

People passed by; they thought she'd be crying.

Yet they wondered why she was smiling and gazing at the clear night sky.

/

_FINI __– __010806_

_/_

**ramblings **Thank you for all the kind words in the previous reviews! Keep on smiling someone up there loves you.

Last time, some reviewers asked what the chapter titles meant (as I was feeling weird and put them in different languages). I'm so sorry about not translating them sooner, but here we go:

01: _infitiatio_ - Latin. Relates to someone "denying" or refusing.  
02: _akogare_ - Japanese. Means "longing".


End file.
